Legal claims defining the scope of protection, as filed with the USPTO.
1. A method for creating and delivering physical, merchant-specific open loop prepaid gift cards performed by a system comprising a multi-process secure gateway having a computer processor and computer-executable instructions stored on a non-transitory computer readable memory which, when executed, causes the system to perform the method comprising: identifying a request, via the multi-process secure gateway, from a customer for issuance of an open loop prepaid gift account which can be used to make purchases at a merchant and other merchants, wherein the other merchants at which the open loop prepaid gift account will be accepted are determined by an issuer of the open loop prepaid gift account and wherein the customer is a consumer and is different from the merchant; presenting, via the multi-process secure gateway, the customer with a menu from which the customer can select merchant information to be printed on to a physical card; receiving, via the multi-process secure gateway, from the customer a selection of the merchant from the menu; and based on the selection: presenting, via the multi-process secure gateway, the customer with an option to load funds onto the open loop prepaid gift account; upon receipt, via the multi-process secure gateway, from the customer of the funds as payment, creating the open loop prepaid gift account for the customer and loading the open loop prepaid gift account with an amount of money; transforming at least a portion of the open loop prepaid gift account into the physical card, wherein transforming comprises encoding open loop prepaid gift account information onto the physical card, wherein a portion of the open loop prepaid gift account information is visibly perceptible and a portion the open loop prepaid gift account information is not visibly perceptible; printing on the physical card, via a printing device, a statement which only references the merchant and not the other merchants at which the open loop prepaid account can be used; and delivering, via the multi-process secure gateway, to the customer, the open loop prepaid account appearing as a closed loop prepaid account, wherein the open loop prepaid account is delivered as the physical card, wherein the physical card is a merchant-specific open loop prepaid gift card.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the open loop prepaid gift account is branded by one of a payment network association and a merchant name.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the selection of the merchant is based on at least one of a city associated with the merchant, a state associated with the merchant, a geographic region associated with the merchant, and a metropolitan area associated with the merchant.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the merchant is a local merchant.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein creating the open loop prepaid gift account for the customer is performed without the merchant's consent.
6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the open loop prepaid gift account is accepted for payment by the merchant.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the menu comprises at least one of a list of merchants, a merchant search interface, or an input field for entering merchant data.
8. A physical, merchant-specific open loop prepaid gift card creation and delivery system comprising: a multi-process secure gateway; a processor; and a memory storing instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising: identifying a request, via the multi-process secure gateway, from a customer for issuance of an open loop prepaid gift account which can be used to make purchases at a merchant and other merchants, wherein the other merchants at which the open loop prepaid gift account will be accepted are determined by an issuer of the open loop prepaid gift account and wherein the customer is a consumer and is different from the merchant; presenting, via the multi-process secure gateway, the customer with a menu from which the customer can select merchant information to be printed on to a physical card; receiving, via the multi-process secure gateway, from the customer a selection of the merchant from the menu; and based on the selection of the merchant: presenting, via the multi-process secure gateway, the customer with an option to load funds onto the open loop prepaid gift account; upon receipt of payment, via the multi-process secure gateway, from the customer, creating the open loop prepaid gift account for the customer and loading the open loop prepaid gift account with an amount of money; transforming at least a portion of the open loop prepaid gift account into the physical card, wherein transforming comprises encoding open loop prepaid gift account information onto the physical card, wherein a portion of the open loop prepaid gift account information is visibly perceptible and a portion the open loop prepaid gift account information is not visibly perceptible; and printing on the physical card, via a printing device, a statement which only references the merchant and not the other merchants at which the open loop prepaid account can be used; and delivering, via the multi-process secure gateway, to the customer, the open loop prepaid account appearing as a closed loop prepaid account, wherein the open loop prepaid account is delivered as the physical card, wherein the physical card is a merchant-specific open loop prepaid gift card.
9. The system of claim 8 , wherein the physical card is branded with one of a logo of the merchant and a text name of the merchant.
10. The system of claim 8 , wherein the selection of the merchant is based on at least one of a city associated with the merchant, a state associated with the merchant, a geographic region associated with the merchant, and a metropolitan area associated with the merchant.
11. The system of claim 8 , wherein the merchant is a local merchant.
12. The system of claim 8 , wherein creating the open loop prepaid gift account for the customer is performed without the merchant's consent.
13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the open loop prepaid gift account is accepted by the merchant.
14. A computer-readable device having stored therein instructions for creating and delivering physical, merchant-specific open loop prepaid gift cards which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising: identifying a request from a customer, via a multi-process secure gateway, for issuance of an open loop prepaid gift account which can be used to make purchases at a merchant and other merchants, wherein the other merchants at which the open loop prepaid gift account will be accepted are determined by an issuer of the open loop prepaid gift account and wherein the customer is a consumer and is different from the merchant; presenting, via the multi-process secure gateway, the customer with a menu from which the customer can select merchant information to be printed on to a physical card; receiving, via the multi-process secure gateway, from the customer a selection of the merchant from the menu; and based on the selection of the merchant: presenting, via the multi-process secure gateway, the customer with an option to load funds onto the prepaid gift account; upon receipt of payment, via the multi-process secure gateway, from the customer, creating the open loop prepaid gift account for the customer and loading the open loop prepaid gift account with an amount of money; transforming at least a portion of the open loop prepaid gift account into the physical card, wherein transforming comprises encoding open loop prepaid gift account information onto the physical card, wherein a portion of the open loop prepaid gift account information is visibly perceptible and a portion the open loop prepaid gift account information is not visibly perceptible; and printing on the physical card, via a printing device, a statement which only references the merchant and not the other merchants at which the open loop prepaid account can be used; and delivering, via the multi-process secure gateway, to the customer, the open loop prepaid account appearing as a closed loop prepaid account, wherein the open loop prepaid account is delivered as the physical card, wherein the physical card is a merchant-specific open loop prepaid gift card.
15. The computer-readable device of claim 14 , wherein the open loop prepaid gift account is branded by a payment network association.
16. The computer-readable device of claim 14 , wherein the selection of the merchant is based on at least one of a city associated with the merchant, a state associated with the merchant, a geographic region associated with the merchant, and a metropolitan area associated with the merchant.
17. The computer-readable device of claim 14 , wherein the merchant is a local merchant.
18. The computer-readable device of claim 14 , wherein creating the open loop prepaid gift account for the customer is performed without the merchant's consent.
19. The computer-readable device of claim 18 , wherein the open loop prepaid gift account is accepted by the merchant.
20. The computer-readable device of claim 14 , wherein the menu comprises a list of merchants.
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June 7, 2022
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